Jim Collins

The kind of commitment I find among the best performers across virtually every field is a single-minded passion for what they do, an unwavering desire for excellence in the way they think and the way they work. Genuine confidence is what launches you out of bed in the morning, and through your day with a spring in your step.

Jim Collins

Source: Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't, Pages: 87

No matter what. Wherever your mind wanders, it seems to turn up at the same Field of Dreams. It's the vision you wake up with in the morning, and it's the last thing you picture before you fall asleep. Everytime you think of it, the idea in your head seems to get more vivid, filled in with more detail: You not only want to win a gold medal at the Olympics, you not only can see yourself standing there on the podium, but you can also feel the goose bumps as your national anthem is played; the tears are in your eyes. (That's how real a dream can be and should be)

Jim Collins

Source: Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't, Pages: 59

Dreams make you click, juice you, turn you on, excite the living daylights out of you. You cannot wait to get out of bed to continue pursuing your dream. The kind of dream I'm talking about gives meaning to your life. it is the ultimate motivator.

Jim Collins

Source: Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't, Pages: 59

For no matter what we achieve, if we don’t spend the vast majority of our time with people we love and respect, we cannot possibly have a great life. But if we spend the vast majority of our time with people we love and respect – people we really enjoy being on the bus with and who will never disappoint us – then we will almost certainly have a great life, no matter where the bus goes. The people we interviewed from the good-to-great companies clearly loved what they did, largely because they loved who they did it with.

Jim Collins

Source: Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't, Pages: 62

Everyone would like to be the best, but most organizations lack the discipline to figure out with egoless clarity what they can be the best at and the will to do whatever it takes to turn the potential into reality.

Jim Collins

Source: Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't, Pages: 128

Genius of AND. Embrace both extremes on a number of dimensions at the same time. Instead of choosing a OR B, figure out how to have A AND B--purpose AND profit, continuity AND change, freedom AND responsibility, etc.

Jim Collins

Source: Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't, Pages: 198

...the question, Why try for greatness? would seem almost tautological. If you're doing something you care that much about, and you believe in its purpose deeply enough, then it is impossible to imagine not trying to make it great. It's just a given.

Jim Collins

Source: Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't, Pages: 208

Indeed, the real question is not, "Why greatness?" but "What work makes you feel compelled to try to create greatness?" if you have to ask the question, "Why should we try to make it great? Isn't success enough?" then you're probably int he wrong line of work.

Jim Collins

Source: Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't, Pages: 209